The author is in Camp Lead Tea
We all know that the original plan for operation Sealion was unworkable and doomed to legendary failure. The barges would be sunk by the British navy and air force. Moreover, if the Nazi force by some miracle landed, they would die on the beaches or slightly inland due to a lack of resupply. I'd like to change this by introducing an intentionally absurd scenario.
The Nazis choose to invade the United Kingdom by building a giant causeway across the channel. The causeway, per a post on worldbuilding stack exchange [1], has a volume of 52.8 million meters cubed. This is comparable to some of the world's largest dams. For reference, the concrete Three Gorges Dam has a volume of 27.4 million meters cubed and the rock filled Atatürk Dam has a volume of 84.5 million meters cubed. Therefore, it is theoretically feasible for a country to build this affront to Britain presuming no interference.
Lets give the Nazis the best not quite fully ASB scenario towards victory in WW2. On December 8th 1941, Hitler declares war on Japan and decries the attack on Peral Harbor as a attack against Western Civilization. He pledges to support to America, orders U-boats to attack Japanese shipping and implies that he could dedicate greater forces against Japan if Germany was not at war with Britain. The Germans also reveal Japanese atrocities in Nanking to inflame racist sentiments against the Japanese. The Americans then pressure Britain to accept a white peace with Germany. If needed for peace, Italy gets thrown under the bus. Moreover, America discontinues their lend lease aid to the Soviet Union. As a result, the Nazis break the back of the Soviets by 1943 and force a Soviet retreat to the Urals. Significant Nazi naval forces are deployed against Japan, including a completed Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier and U-boats. After the Soviet retreat, the Nazis send 100,000 troops against Japan with American logistical support. This scenario is similar to Gudestein's Exit the Haze: Hitler – The Master strategist who resurrected Germany as a global power but considerably less favorable to Germany.
There are a couple of major differences compared to the TL outlined by Gudestein. One, the Nazis are just as evil as they were OTL. They completed the Holocaust and are now liquidating millions more with General Plan Ost. Two, the Nazis gained nothing material outside Europe. No African colonies, no Middle Eastern oil fields, no Suez Canal access. Three, the only relevant result of Germany's efforts against Japan was a major public relations boost with America, enough to make America initially neutral if Germany and Britain went to war again. And four, the Nazis do not get nukes in 1948 and will not get nukes during the duration of the scenario. The British will also not have nuclear weapons in this scenario. Other weapons of mass destruction remain in play.
Because of above and beyond Nazi assistance against Japan in the Pacific War, American will view both Britain and Germany as allies who absolutely hate each others guts. Also, this America's civil rights movement is having a harder time gaining traction compared to OTL. Thus, if a war begins between them, America will not intervene on either side for at least 1 year. Italy, bitter about the entirety of WW2, will sit the conflict out unless Britain gives them something juicy. The Soviets have not fallen into civil war because of the Nazi's best efforts to induce one. The two nations are not exactly at peace, with the border being marked by a firebombed gap in the taiga. The Nazis take care to firebomb Soviet fields when possible, send V weapons against major cities and use soviet force concentrations as airdropped bioweapon testing facilities. Due to the continuing beating, the Soviets are incapable of launching a ground offensive capable of retaking and holding territory past the firebombed gap at the start of the scenario. At an opportune moment, the Soviets will attack.
The scenario is thus. The year is 1950 and the Nazis want to eliminate Britain once and for all. With the Soviets eliminated, the British are the last enemy on the continent standing. Moreover, they wish to do this in the most humiliating fashion possible by eliminating Britain's age old defense of being an island. That the Nazis are still unable to do sea lion by boat is another factor. Germany will build a causeway from Calais to Dover. To protect the causeway, the Nazis have installed as much anti-air and anti-ship defenses as possible in Calais to reduce the risk of attack. Moreover, the Nazis have installed some very long range artillery cannons in Calais to counter British artillery. There is only one Nazi victory condition: complete subjugation of Britain via causeway invasion.
The Nazis have many, many ways to lose. The causeway diverts too much of Germany's economy and popular discontent forces the abandonment of the project. Hitler gets quietly couped and the Nazis shelve the project. The causeway diverts too much production away from coastal defense and Britain manages a D-day style invasion somewhere else in Europe. The British invade the Balkans through Turkey and force the causeway to halt. The Soviets successfully push ~1700km to Moscow and start interfering with General Plan Ost, causing the Nazis to PANIC, drop everything else and deal with that crisis. The Nazis successfully complete the causeway but the defenses in dover are impossible for Germany to break through. The Nazis use the causeway to invade, but are beaten back by a combined British-American force and the causeway is ironically used for a counter-liberation of France. The British say screw this and successfully launch Operation Vegetarian. The entire fiasco takes so long that the Soviets build up outside of Nazi range, develop nuclear weapons, a delivery system and turn Germany into radioactive pavement. Among others.
So, can the Nazis pull it off? Build a gigantic causeway and invade Britain, giving them nearly free reign to horrifically genocide basically everyone in Afro-Eurasia at their own pace?
The Nazis choose to invade the United Kingdom by building a giant causeway across the channel. The causeway, per a post on worldbuilding stack exchange [1], has a volume of 52.8 million meters cubed. This is comparable to some of the world's largest dams. For reference, the concrete Three Gorges Dam has a volume of 27.4 million meters cubed and the rock filled Atatürk Dam has a volume of 84.5 million meters cubed. Therefore, it is theoretically feasible for a country to build this affront to Britain presuming no interference.
Lets give the Nazis the best not quite fully ASB scenario towards victory in WW2. On December 8th 1941, Hitler declares war on Japan and decries the attack on Peral Harbor as a attack against Western Civilization. He pledges to support to America, orders U-boats to attack Japanese shipping and implies that he could dedicate greater forces against Japan if Germany was not at war with Britain. The Germans also reveal Japanese atrocities in Nanking to inflame racist sentiments against the Japanese. The Americans then pressure Britain to accept a white peace with Germany. If needed for peace, Italy gets thrown under the bus. Moreover, America discontinues their lend lease aid to the Soviet Union. As a result, the Nazis break the back of the Soviets by 1943 and force a Soviet retreat to the Urals. Significant Nazi naval forces are deployed against Japan, including a completed Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier and U-boats. After the Soviet retreat, the Nazis send 100,000 troops against Japan with American logistical support. This scenario is similar to Gudestein's Exit the Haze: Hitler – The Master strategist who resurrected Germany as a global power but considerably less favorable to Germany.
There are a couple of major differences compared to the TL outlined by Gudestein. One, the Nazis are just as evil as they were OTL. They completed the Holocaust and are now liquidating millions more with General Plan Ost. Two, the Nazis gained nothing material outside Europe. No African colonies, no Middle Eastern oil fields, no Suez Canal access. Three, the only relevant result of Germany's efforts against Japan was a major public relations boost with America, enough to make America initially neutral if Germany and Britain went to war again. And four, the Nazis do not get nukes in 1948 and will not get nukes during the duration of the scenario. The British will also not have nuclear weapons in this scenario. Other weapons of mass destruction remain in play.
Because of above and beyond Nazi assistance against Japan in the Pacific War, American will view both Britain and Germany as allies who absolutely hate each others guts. Also, this America's civil rights movement is having a harder time gaining traction compared to OTL. Thus, if a war begins between them, America will not intervene on either side for at least 1 year. Italy, bitter about the entirety of WW2, will sit the conflict out unless Britain gives them something juicy. The Soviets have not fallen into civil war because of the Nazi's best efforts to induce one. The two nations are not exactly at peace, with the border being marked by a firebombed gap in the taiga. The Nazis take care to firebomb Soviet fields when possible, send V weapons against major cities and use soviet force concentrations as airdropped bioweapon testing facilities. Due to the continuing beating, the Soviets are incapable of launching a ground offensive capable of retaking and holding territory past the firebombed gap at the start of the scenario. At an opportune moment, the Soviets will attack.
The scenario is thus. The year is 1950 and the Nazis want to eliminate Britain once and for all. With the Soviets eliminated, the British are the last enemy on the continent standing. Moreover, they wish to do this in the most humiliating fashion possible by eliminating Britain's age old defense of being an island. That the Nazis are still unable to do sea lion by boat is another factor. Germany will build a causeway from Calais to Dover. To protect the causeway, the Nazis have installed as much anti-air and anti-ship defenses as possible in Calais to reduce the risk of attack. Moreover, the Nazis have installed some very long range artillery cannons in Calais to counter British artillery. There is only one Nazi victory condition: complete subjugation of Britain via causeway invasion.
The Nazis have many, many ways to lose. The causeway diverts too much of Germany's economy and popular discontent forces the abandonment of the project. Hitler gets quietly couped and the Nazis shelve the project. The causeway diverts too much production away from coastal defense and Britain manages a D-day style invasion somewhere else in Europe. The British invade the Balkans through Turkey and force the causeway to halt. The Soviets successfully push ~1700km to Moscow and start interfering with General Plan Ost, causing the Nazis to PANIC, drop everything else and deal with that crisis. The Nazis successfully complete the causeway but the defenses in dover are impossible for Germany to break through. The Nazis use the causeway to invade, but are beaten back by a combined British-American force and the causeway is ironically used for a counter-liberation of France. The British say screw this and successfully launch Operation Vegetarian. The entire fiasco takes so long that the Soviets build up outside of Nazi range, develop nuclear weapons, a delivery system and turn Germany into radioactive pavement. Among others.
So, can the Nazis pull it off? Build a gigantic causeway and invade Britain, giving them nearly free reign to horrifically genocide basically everyone in Afro-Eurasia at their own pace?
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